


a penny for your company

by popnographic



Series: Rarepair drabbles [16]
Category: Free!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Fluff, M/M, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 17:44:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5711329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“A penny for your thoughts, handsome,” Kisumi says after a while, and Haruka snorts into his third—or fourth?—mojito that might soon become his fourth. Or fifth, whichever.</p><p>“You think I’m <i>that</i> cheap?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	a penny for your company

**Author's Note:**

> Before you get on my case for writing a subject like this, Haruka does what he does 100% willingly, and there are no non-con/dub-con elements in this fic whatsoever, because I don't write things like that as I don't support such writing. If you write it, you do your thing, fine, but I'm not ever going to. There we go.

“Can we go home?”

Makoto laughs, nudges Haruka in the side playfully. “But Haru, we only just got here. We probably won’t stay long, anyway.”

Haruka rolls his eyes and pouts in what he hopes will be very obvious disappointment to Makoto. “You said that last time, and you had to carry me home since I fell asleep on the couch.”

“I wish you hadn’t, it was fun.”

But he knows he’ll probably have a repeat performance, and it’ll be the exact same thing, too, seeing as he fell asleep on Rin’s couch last time, and they’re at Rin’s place again tonight. To be honest, Rin has a _very_ comfortable couch to sleep on, and it’s just a shame to not take advantage of it whenever Haruka’s dragged here against his will, anyway.

Rin comes to greet them with his trademark grin and a bear hug that nearly squeezes out all of the air in Haruka’s lungs. Sousuke simply nods at Haruka and awkwardly shakes Makoto’s hand, and then there’s a new guy Haruka hasn’t seen before that comes up to greet them. He’s got the most extreme hair colour Haruka’s ever seen, and it’s definitely something he won’t forget for a long time.

“This is Kisumi from Sano Elementary,” Rin says as he introduces Haruka and Makoto to him. Kisumi smiles brightly at the both of them, and Haruka almost has to squint. It reminds him of looking directly at the sun, and he wonders how Makoto’s so okay with it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kisumi-kun,” Makoto greets politely, and Kisumi waves him off dismissively, still smiling.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me,” he says. “Kisumi is fine. You must be Makoto, and then this is Haru, right?”

Haruka frowns and looks away, grunting in response. “Yeah.”

Kisumi laughs. “They’re exactly like you described them, Rin. I’m excited to get to know you guys.”

Haruka wonders how he should take that, but he doesn’t comment on it and just lets it be. Rin ushers his guests into the living room while he brings Sousuke with him into the kitchen to bring out beer and other drinks. Honestly, Haruka just wants a really strong mojito and to be left alone, and then he’ll be happy to stay for as long as Makoto wants. It’s a good thing he charged his phone up to full before they left, otherwise his battery would probably deplete within two hours. Which is way shorter than Makoto probably intends to stay, so he’d have to use his phone sparingly. And in doing so, also probably participate in a conversation. Scary thought.

He receives his mojito, strong as he likes it, and lets the sip he’d just taken slowly slide down his throat and burn comfortably on its way. He watches the others talk, laugh, hang out, get to know the new guy whom Haruka really has no interest in. Kisumi is probably the first person Haruka’s ever met to think of as his polar opposite, because from what he can see and hear in observing them all, there isn’t a single thing he finds he has in common with the guy.

The evening goes on, and Haruka keeps himself entertained by browsing the internet on his phone whilst listening to the terrible playlist consisting of at most ten songs Rin has put on repeat. Rin had asked him about an hour ago if he wanted to join them for a game of poker, but he’d declined saying cards isn’t his thing. And it isn’t, really, but he also isn’t in the mood to watch people play cards and run the risk of witnessing Sousuke or Rin lose. He’s seen it before, and he doesn’t want to see it again.

The couch dips as someone sits down next to him, and when Haruka turns his head, he’s very surprised to see the new guy, once again grinning at him.

“So why aren’t you playing poker?” he asks. Haruka shrugs.

“Not in the mood for it.”

Pink-haired guy laughs. “I can see why. Makoto’s won nearly every round up until now, and I won once.”

Haruka dares look at him from the side. “So why are you out here?”

“Said I was going to the bathroom.”

And yet he’s sitting on the couch in the living room, not at all seeming like he needs to go to the bathroom. Haruka wonders if he’s made a habit out of lying about such trivial things, but of course, doesn’t say a thing. He lets silence fall, and surprisingly, so does Kisumi. He’d turned down the music on Rin’s stereo a while ago; now it’s not so much dunking and throbbing in his head with terrible rhythms and melodies or lyrics that don’t make sense, and it’s just background noise.

“A penny for your thoughts, handsome,” Kisumi says after a while, and Haruka snorts into his third—or fourth?—mojito that might soon become his fourth. Or fifth, whichever.

“You think I’m _that_ cheap?”

Kisumi hums. “Then what are your rates?”

Really, he shouldn’t be surprised that Kisumi ends up actually going into the bathroom, but what he _is_ surprised by is that he willingly joins him, and then it’s not to take a piss. Within ten minutes, he finds out a lot of things about Kisumi he most definitely hadn’t otherwise—like how he’s absolutely relentless when it comes to fucking someone whilst sitting on the toilet lid—and maybe Haruka’s glad he took the opportunity. Maybe.

“You never told me how expensive you are,” Kisumi whispers into his ear as they’re cleaning themselves up in front of the bathroom sink. Haruka looks at him in the bathroom mirror, and in his drunken stupor, he doesn’t think before he speaks.

“Too expensive for you.”

“Name a price and I’ll pay it. Cash.”

Haruka exits the bathroom after having told Kisumi he’d get this time for free. He wonders how the hell Kisumi knew just what to ask, how he knew at _all_ , because that’s most definitely not something he’d find out from the others, since they don’t know in the first place.

When they next meet, it’s at Makoto’s place. Kisumi probably wouldn’t have come had Makoto not specifically told Rin it was okay to bring him, but Haruka doesn’t really mind it, he finds, since it earns Kisumi a blowjob in Makoto’s bathroom, and Haruka gets a little wad of bills slipped into his pocket, accompanied with a note that contains Kisumi’s phone number and a personal message.

“ _Told you I’d pay for my next time. If it’s not enough… well, now you have my number. See you soon, hopefully_.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few days go by, and he doesn’t hear anything from Kisumi. He shrugs it off and sees it as a one-time thing, knowing not everyone’s probably into the idea of paying for sex. Some people get it for free, some people are paid for it, some stupid idiots actually pay for it. So maybe Kisumi isn’t one of them, then. Maybe he was smart and got himself out of something that never had the chance of taking off in the first place.

But then Kisumi suddenly reminds Haruka of his presence in the form of a text message, and Haruka doesn’t know how to interpret his surprise when he reads the message on his phone.

 **Kisumi** : _Come over tonight? I’ll send a cab your way. Don’t worry, I actually went out to get cash this time._

 

Haruka looks at his phone for a few seconds before he sighs. At least he’ll pay for the goddamn taxi, otherwise it just makes things look like a date, and that’s the last thing he wants. People shouldn’t date their customers, that’d take away the whole ‘wham bam thank you Sam’ concept, because that means there’s something that follows.

Which is why it really surprises him that in just a few weeks, Kisumi has become a regular of his. It only really started because Kisumi paid too much the second time they had sex, and he’d told Haruka to just keep it, and that Haruka owed him a third time with the extra cash he’d gotten in his pocket that evening. Well, a third became a fourth, and then after the fifth, Haruka knew he’d gotten himself his very first regular.

The cab Kisumi had sent him arrives a few minutes later, and within fifteen, he’s outside Kisumi’s place. It’s far nicer than where he lives, though he wouldn’t really call it the high end of town. To be honest, where Haruka lives is probably classified as the slum of Tokyo, the scary parts where people walk home alone at night and constantly fear being stabbed or mugged.

Makoto’s told him countless times he could definitely get himself a nicer place, maybe near Musashino or Suginami, which is close to those popular areas of Tokyo Haruka would rather avoid. He likes his flat; it’s simple, close to the train station, and his neighbourhood is—for the most part—quiet. Rin thinks it’s _too_ quiet, almost eerily so, but he isn’t the one living there, so it doesn’t matter. They still come to visit every so often, anyway, so that has to mean it can’t be all _that_ bad.

He rings the doorbell, and within seconds is greeted by the pink tornado that is Kisumi and his outrageous hair.

“Haru, so good to see you. Come in,” Kisumi says, voice chirpier than the most annoying birds outside Haruka’s window at five in the morning. He follows Kisumi inside and kicks off his shoes in the hallway. “You want anything to drink?”

Haruka shrugs. “Depends if you want me to be drunk or sober.”

“I like all sides of you,” Kisumi replies, and pokes him in the side. Haruka shoots him a scowl; that poking thing reminds him of Makoto, and Makoto is _not_ someone he wants to be reminded of right now. It’s like thinking of your grandmother in lingerie when you’re having sex or masturbating, makes you go completely soft within three seconds. But it also instils a slight twinge of guilt in Haruka’s chest, which he could obviously do without.

“I’m good,” Haruka says, changing his mind. “Just get on with it.”

“You don’t like to cut corners,” Kisumi responds with a hint of excitement, or maybe admiration, even. “My kind of person.”

He can’t deny, though, that Kisumi is different from previous clients of his. It isn’t as if Haruka’s previous ones have been violent or anything like that, no—but most of them failed to meet his needs while he always had to meet theirs. Sure, he’s the one getting paid for his services, but when it comes to sex, usually both parties are supposed to be satisfied at the end of it, which Haruka hasn’t been in a while. Thankfully, Kisumi _does_ cater to his needs though he definitely doesn’t need to, and it’s a nice change.

Haruka lies on his back, his breathing slowing down and eyes still closed. Kisumi’s bedroom is still nice and cool despite their previous activities which had been anything but, but maybe that’s just because it’s so incredibly big and spacious. Haruka doesn’t know what Kisumi works with, but judging by his apartment, he’s got to be a lawyer or something of the sort.

“You know,” Kisumi says, puncturing the silence. His voice is low, almost mellow, and it makes Haruka raise an eyebrow in surprise. “I’ve been lying to you. Not just you, but everyone else, too.”

Haruka turns his head to the side. “What?”

Kisumi hesitates a little before talking again, and Haruka wonders if this is really something he should hear, as someone who barely even knows the guy. “I’m scared of showing people who I really am. To let them know I’m _not_ always happy and cheerful. I guess I’m just putting up a front, wearing a mask, that doesn’t show who I am to others.”

“It’s a really ugly mask,” Haruka comments, and Kisumi laughs a little, though it sounds strained.

“It probably doesn’t fit very well, either. I used to be like that when I was younger, though.”

Haruka sighs through his nose. This isn’t really what he’d signed up for when he accepted Kisumi’s money, when he agreed to the two having sex on what seems to have become a regular basis. He isn’t good with people or feelings, although he has to admit he’s a pretty good listener. Maybe not so much with people he doesn’t know very well, but in listening to Kisumi and his story, Haruka wonders if maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea, after all.

So he finds himself asking Kisumi why, and Kisumi opens up to him, slowly but surely, like a budding flower. He talks about his childhood, about how he grew to become the class clown, and how the expectations people had of him eventually got the best of him, and he’d started distancing himself from his friends just before he entered high school.

“I figured I could start over,” Kisumi says. “New school, new people, new environment. Everyone’s older, too, so maybe it’d be easier. Well, that was until I ran into Sousuke at the hospital. You know about his shoulder, right?”

Haruka nods once. He knows it’s still a sensitive subject, and since he isn’t close to Sousuke in the first place, he doesn’t get to hear much about it from Rin, either. But he knows enough to realise Sousuke’s had it rough, to say the least, and that such a thing most definitely can’t be fun to talk about when all you wanted to do was make a dream come true.

“I just… panicked,” Kisumi continues, sighing. “Went back to my old personality, greeted Sousuke with a big, stupid smile and acted like I hadn’t changed since. And now it’s too late to change anything about it, too late to think it’s okay to just relax around them since they know me like this now. It’s… tiring. I’m tired.”

Haruka doesn’t know what to say in response to Kisumi’s long talk, so he doesn’t say anything. Maybe all Kisumi really needed was to vent to someone, seeing as he’s kept this to himself all these years. It just really surprises Haruka how much it all seems to resonate so well with himself, and he sees himself as a fool for having judged Kisumi so early and thinking the two had absolutely nothing in common when in fact they do.

“I should go,” Haruka says after a while. “It’s late.”

“You could just stay the night, you know.”

Haruka frowns as he turns around. “I’d rather not.”

Kisumi seems disappointed, but he relents. He sits up and rummages through the pockets of his jeans to pull out his wallet, and then takes out a rather sizeable wad of bills. “Well, here’s for tonight. Thanks, Haru.”

“This is too much, Kisumi. Again. You’ve never paid for sex before, have you?”

“No, I haven’t, and I know it’s too much. See it as payment in advance for next time.”

 _Again_. Haruka closes his eyes, and then lets out a sigh in resignation. “Fine.”

 

* * *

 

 **You** : _Have you seen my headphones anywhere?_

 

He walks around his apartment, frantically scrambling through his drawers and looks through every single nook and cranny without finding what he’s looking for. They’re his favourite in-ear headphones, and he’d gotten them from Gou last year as a birthday gift. He doesn’t say it to anyone, of course, but that’s probably the best thing he’s ever been given.

 

 **Makoto** : _The white ones? Sorry, I haven’t. Did you lose them somewhere?_

 

 **You** : _Seems like it. I’ll keep looking, thanks anyway_.

 

Just as he’s about to go out on a run, too. When did he lose them, and where? Haruka is terrible at keeping track of things like these, and especially a pair of headphones one could easily lose. Which he’d obviously done. It isn’t something he normally thinks about, and maybe that’s why he’s having such difficulties with finding them now.

But then it hits him like a brick right in the face, and Haruka sits down on the hallway chair. Kisumi. He usually keeps his headphones in his jeans pockets, and they must’ve fallen out when he’d put his jeans back on last time they met, which by this point was a few days ago. He really, _really_ doesn’t want to go back to Kisumi’s, because he’s realised it gets more and more difficult to leave each time, and that’s when he knows it has to end.

It just _won’t_ end, apparently, because now Kisumi has a reason to call him back, and Haruka most definitely can’t just let those headphones go to waste, as insignificant as they may sound to others. He’s bad with buying things for himself that aren’t food, and a pair of headphones isn’t even on the list of things he _might_ buy in an emergency.

Haruka chews on his lower lip, a deep crease forming between his eyebrows as his finger hovers over the call-button by Kisumi’s name in his phone. He’s only got himself to blame in this; he could’ve ended it whenever he wanted, but in the end never did. Now that he’s this deep, all he can do is just let himself keep falling.

 **You** : _I forgot my headphones at your place. Are you home?_

 

It takes less than two minutes for Kisumi to reply and say that he’s indeed at home, and Haruka leaves his apartment to take the train over to Kisumi’s place. From the moment he walked down the stairs from his apartment to when he rings Kisumi’s doorbell, Haruka keeps his hands clenched into fists in his sweater pockets, and when he relaxes them and runs his fingertips over his palms, he notices small crescent patterns.

The door opens, and the first thing Haruka sees is a pair of white in-ear headphones dangling from Kisumi’s hand a few inches above his head. Haruka knows better than to try and reach for them, and instead just takes a step forward to hopefully make Kisumi take a hint. Kisumi, however, smiles at Haruka, and doesn’t lower his hand.

“You forgot these on purpose, didn’t you?”

Haruka huffs in impatience. “Don’t flatter yourself—“

“Come on in,” Kisumi says, smiling, and Haruka knows he’s built his walls back up again. “You want something?”

But Haruka stays by the door, waiting for him to turn around. When he finally does, Haruka stretches his hand out.

“Payment in advance, Kisumi.”

This time it’s Kisumi’s turn to frown and look confused. “That’s not why I wanted you to come in, you know.”

Haruka rolls his eyes, turns around again. “Well, in that case I don’t have any business here, so I’m leaving.”

“You don’t need your headphones?”

He waves his hand over his shoulder as he walks back out. “If you want them, you can have them.”

The door closes behind him, and Haruka makes his way towards the lift. Why did he have to forget those? Why is Kisumi such a persistent person, why does he have the power to do this to Haruka when all it was supposed to be was a strict buyer-seller-relationship? He knows he should’ve seen it coming when Kisumi kept paying him too much as an excuse for them to meet again, but Haruka never took the chance to cut things off right then and there. So, of course, he’s as much to blame for this as Kisumi is.

His lift arrives, and just as he’s about to get in, a hand wraps around his wrist, and he flinches.

“Haru, I’m sorry,” Kisumi nearly whispers behind him, before he gives Haruka his headphones back with his free hand. “I’ll give them back, just… don’t be mad.”

He can’t really be _mad_ at Kisumi, because he knows Kisumi has his own selfish desires as much as Haru has his. Now that their desires seem to have melted together into something that goes beyond just sex and company after both of them have had plenty of opportunities to stop it from happening, Haruka can’t look away.

“I’m not mad,” he says, and watches the doors to the lift slowly shut. “Just don’t do that again.”

Kisumi lets go of his wrist, and Haruka hears him sigh. “I won’t. Are you coming back in?”

“Yeah,” Haruka says, turning around to face him. “This time for free.”

Kisumi laughs. “Now look who’s desperate.”

 

* * *

 

 

He leaves his headphones again, this time on purpose, as a promise that he’ll be back soon. And Haruka stays true to his words, arrives outside Kisumi’s apartment two days later. Kisumi opens the door, and smiles at Haruka, a smile that reaches his eyes.

“You left your headphones on purpose, didn’t you?”

“You already know I did.”

Kisumi takes a step forward, cups Haruka’s face in his hands, and gives him a light kiss on the lips. “You’re right, I do. Are you coming in?”

Haruka eyes the headphones around Kisumi’s neck, and returns the smile. “Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by the relationship between Serizawa Reira and Okazaki Shinichi from [NANA](http://myanimelist.net/anime/877/Nana). If you haven't watched/read NANA, please do. Whatever you do, just watch the anime or read the manga, because I'm pretty sure it changed my life.
> 
> \--
> 
> [radiodread](http://radiodread.tumblr.com) @ tumblr


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